Interactive computer programs using real-life video to teach social skills to children and adolescents

Issue #3, September 2007

Beating the Back to School Blues

This issue of InterAction focuses on a positive and proactive back to school kickoff! A little pre-planning and attention to some easy tips can really help your you and your child get prepared for all that is ahead this fall. Keeping in mind school, sports and homework, children, parents and therapists can assist in building on social skill development.

A Little Preparation Goes a Long Way

• Host a going back to school party to reconnect or meet with classmates and neighborhood kids in advance so they'll see faces they recognize on the first day at the bus and in school.

• Organize and make room for the paper shuffle to come. Create a routine of where shoes, backpacks, coats, and homework papers should go. The use of cubbies similar to school or a section of a room dedicated to schoolwork will make it easier for them to maintain their work space and expectations when they go there. Have children visually label containers so they can be more independent and reduce the anxiety of last minute searches. Limit the amount of toys, media or other distractions so children do not have to tune out an overload of "visual noise" from this study area.

• Begin to ease back into the school schedule. Two weeks before, start setting earlier bedtimes and wake-ups.

• Execute a morning routine run-through.

• Create a calendar that lists everyone's activities on the fridge so children can visualize their day. You might include pictures of new and old teachers, therapists, and peers a child might be encountering in the fall.

• Introduce or review My School Day or School Rules! software from Social Skill Builder.

References
DeBroff, Stacy: The Mom Book Goes to School
Goldberg, Donna: The Organized Student

Practices Begin!

As school starts, so do sport practices and games. Sometimes this produces additional anxiety; however, it should be emphasized that the social rules kids practice when playing sports, are often similar to those we play by in our everyday life. Introduce your child to concepts such as perseverance, good and bad days, cooperation, self-esteem, winning and losing, and discipline.

Team Versus Individual Sports

It may be wise to consider an individual sport first, such as tae kwon do, and move slowly to tennis or a sport with just a few teammates, before finally transitioning to a large team sport such as baseball. Often children with ASD have so much difficulty with maintaining joint attention that if they don't have the ball they are not a part of the game. Combine this with with initiation difficulties, and a child with autism never seems to be able to get the ball back.

Some suggestions on how to play ball one on one are listed below as practice for the maintenance of joint attention:

• Walk and pass a ball back and forth between two people, starting out shoulder to shoulder and then gradually moving apart to arms' length and then back in again.

• Make an "x" on the floor with tape, approximately 6 feet from a starting point and have the child take turns being the runner to the "x" and the ball tosser. The object of this practice is to make contact with the other person running, right as they reach "x" point. Have the person holding the ball say "go" and then toss the ball to the runner as the reach the "x" point. If catching is too difficult, try rolling!

These two exercises will address staying in pace with each other and continually require joint attention to make contact. Make it a game and see how many passes you can achieve together.

• Videotaping practices and games of a sport you have signed your child up for this year will help them know what to expect in the upcoming season. Try to find a team that is similar in age range and skill level as the child. (Do not tape a professional team.)

Don't give up! Just because your child can't play a large team sport at six doesn't mean they won't be better at understanding the concepts of faster pace, give and take, larger group action at eight or 10.

References
Engh, Fred: Why Johnny Hates Sports
Smoll, Frank: Sports and your Child

Practice from the Clinic

New and Innovative Ways to Use Social Skill Builder Products

Social Skill Builder software has multiple levels to target different levels of social functioning. Level 1 can be used like a social story movie, as an introduction to or a review of learned skills. Be sure to make use of the pause action button at any time to ask question or allow the child to make a prediction of the feeling or action that is going to happen next.

In Level 4 of the My Community CD and Level 5 of the School Rules! Volume 1 and Volume 2 CDs, the perspective taking exercises can be taken one step further to focus on the hidden meaning of intonation or tone of voice during a conversation. Having the child practice saying the thoughts and feelings of the person shown in the video with the matching tone of voice can assist them in understanding when someone is being sarcastic, cooperative or funny.